Pro combat sports 'good to go' in Nova Scotia with newly named authority

Professional boxing and mixed martial arts events are making a comeback in Nova Scotia after a brief hiatus with the revamping of the body that oversees combat sports in the province. 

This summer, there was a pause on professional fights in Nova Scotia because the group that regulates them hadn't hired a new round of commissioners.

On Thursday, the province announced a new nine-member Combat Sports Authority, which will replace the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority. 

A spokesperson for the Department of Communities, Culture and Heritage said board members have been appointed and fights will be able to be sanctioned within the week.

The authority's chair, Mickey MacDonald, said the lack of commissioners this summer had little impact.

"We didn't really hold anybody up. There was no pending events," said MacDonald, who also chaired the former boxing authority. 

MacDonald said many of the former commissioners have been reappointed, and while the group has a new name, it's business as usual.

"We're good to go," he said.

Growing popularity of MMA

He said the new name reflects what the authority has already been doing: governing not only boxing, but Mauy Thai, kickboxing, and professional and amateur mixed martial arts. 

The authority is under the auspices of the provincial Department of Communities, and will be in charge of everything from regulating licensing for contestants and promoters to dealing with referees and making sure locations are safe.

"This legislation reflects what the authority has been practising the past several years, and brings clarity to how both professional and amateur combative sport is governed in our province," Communities Minister Leo Glavine said in a statement released Thursday.

Since 2013, the Criminal Code of Canada has included a reference that explicitly makes MMA bouts legal. The growing popularity of the sport has governing bodies across Canada and the U.S. choosing more inclusive names, said MacDonald. 

The province said it's seen a substantial increase in requests to hold non-traditional fights. Most recently, Halifax hosted a UFC fight in February. 

Aaron Nutting, director of the sports and recreation division in the Department of Communities, said mixed martial arts is already being practised in a safe manner.  

"We have the utmost confidence in our authority that they have already seen two major UFC fights come through this province and have been commended for their professionalism and the way they operate," said Nutting. 

'Long overdue'

The nod to mixed martial arts in the authority's new name is "long overdue," said Nova Scotia fighter Chris Kelades. 

In August, Kelades told CBC News he was frustrated that he couldn't compete in his home province, and was worried about the cost of travelling elsewhere for competition.

He said he was involved with an MMA event that was cancelled this summer because the authority wasn't active. He hopes that event can now go ahead. 

"By the time this gets going it will probably be eight or nine months that we've been trying to get an event established, so who knows now moving forward what the timeline will be," he said.

Still, he said the new authority is a "step in the right direction."

"I'm happy that combat sports is going to have a governing body now that will be able to sanction events and we can kind of get on with the sport in Nova Scotia and hopefully Atlantic Canada can keep moving forward," he said.